Filomena Scalise
South Africa could lead the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to ensure that climate change objectives remain on track, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
“South Africa is admired worldwide for the way we negotiated a peaceful transition to democracy 17 years ago, and we can thus play a leading role in the complex deliberations which will take place in Durban over the next two weeks,” said spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko in a statement.
While the party understood that an extension of the Kyoto Protocol commitments were “unlikely”, it still hoped that this would be agreed at the conference.
The Kyoto Protocol is the only binding international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its first commitment period expires at the end of next year.
“At the very least there needs to be a political agreement that extends the commitment period under Kyoto, so that mitigation efforts by developed countries continue, and so that key mechanisms such as the reporting on emissions remain in place,” Mazibuko said.
The COP17 to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change is scheduled to begin on Monday and to run until December 9. – Sapa
View original post here:
DA: SA can play leading role in COP17